IndyBlog

Drown the gay scoutmasters, says Dr. Chaps

Gordon Klingenschmitt, the Republican House District 15 representative from El Paso County, now says it's better to drown gay scoutmasters than allow them to participate in Boy Scouts of America, triggering condemnation from several quarters.

Brian Scannell

Once again, the El Paso County Republican stirs the waters.

Klingenschmitt, who fashions himself a pastor and formerly served as a Navy chaplain, runs the "Pray in Jesus Name" TV show and has made headlines with hate speech against LGBT folks.

One Colorado, an advocacy organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Coloradans and their families, wasted no time in releasing a statement from Executive Director Dave Montez.

After making numerous comments over the past year attacking lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their families, Representative Klingenschmitt just can’t seem to get enough. He recently called on the Boy Scouts of America to drown all gay leaders in its organization. Gay adults are involved in scouting for the same reasons everyone else is; to serve youth, and to help them grow into good, strong citizens. These comments are reprehensible – and he should be ashamed of himself for making them.

One Colorado calls on the leaders of the Colorado Republican Party, and Republican leadership in the State House, to condemn Representative Klingenschmitt’s comments and affirm that no one should be targeted for violence just because of who they are, or who they love.

While experience tells us we shouldn’t hold our breath for an apology from Mr. Klingenschmitt, an apology is exactly what is owed – not just to gay scouts and leaders across the state, but to the countless friends and family members who are tired of seeing their loved ones attacked just for being who they are. Simply put, Representative Klingenschmitt – the fair-minded people of Colorado deserve better.

Soon thereafter, Progress Colorado issued this statement:

After national news outlets publicized new statements from Republican Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt of Colorado Springs that appear to advocate for the murder of gay members of the Boy Scouts of America, ProgressNow Colorado, the state's largest online progressive advocacy organization, once again called for Klingenschmitt to resign—and questioned Republican legislative leaders who restored his committee postings after a previous incident.

"Just how far is too far?" said ProgressNow Colorado executive director Amy Runyon-Harms. "After Rep. Klingenschmitt claimed that a sitting member of Congress from our state wants to 'behead Christians,' and that the tragic attack on a pregnant woman in Longmont last March was 'the curse of God,' ProgressNow Colorado called for him to resign. Instead, House Minority Leader Brian DelGrosso restored Klingenschmitt to his committee assignments as soon as the media stopped paying attention, and swept the matter under the rug. That was a huge mistake, and today Republicans are paying the price as Klingenschmitt once again brings shame upon the entire state of Colorado."

In a new video posted to Rep. Gordon Klingenschmitt's Youtube channel this past week, Klingenschmitt claims that allowing gay scoutmasters to serve in the Boy Scouts "will lead to sexual abuse." Klingenschmitt invokes a Bible verse that says for those who cause "little ones to sin," "it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea." Klingenschmitt then says it would be "better" for "child molesters" like the scoutmasters he previously described to be drowned.

"It would be easy to dismiss Klingenschmitt's statements as the ravings of a deranged lunatic, except for the fact that he is an elected Republican legislator in the state of Colorado," said Runyon-Harms. "By not acting to distance themselves from Rep. Klingenschmitt, Colorado Republicans are validating what he says. Every day that goes by with Klingenschmitt continuing to serve as a Republican legislator, his hatred speaks for them. It has to stop, and the only ones who can stop it are Klingenschmitt's Republican legislative leaders."

"It is months past time for Colorado Republicans to ask Rep. Klingenschmitt to resign," said Runyon-Harms.